I’m a food snob and proud of it. Don’t get me wrong, I eat Taco Bell and other fast food. But when I eat at those places, I expect to get crap served to me wrapped in clown-colored paper. Most of the time, however, I try to put only the best tasting morsels down my gullet. Most anyone who has sat with me for more than an hour has heard me rant or rave about one food thing or another and several people have mentioned that I should make a food page. So, here it is!

Asada, Atlanta, GA. 11/21/2005
There aren’t many places in Atlanta that you can get a margarita and feel like you didn’t get skimped, almost cheated. Most of the time, the drink comes at you with a lifeless, one-dimensional citrus taste that makes you wonder if the bartender merely wafted the tequila fumes over your drink.

Well, Asada has an answer to your margarita prayers. With a large variety of flavors and tequilas tailored to your tastes, your margaritas come to you personalized and powerful – filled with vibrant character. There are some unique combinations for the adventurous and masterfully constructed classics. You won’t find a runt in litter, but you may have trouble finding you car keys after you put a few of these away.

Important safety tip: coordinate your plan for driving ahead of time!

This same kind of character is true for most of the rest of the menu of this inconspicuous southwestern restaurant located just outside Little Five Points. The food is not always cut straight from tradition, but the spirit of the southwest is clearly present.

Poblano, chipotle, ancho and arbol chilis are common ingredients to the various plates. But have no fear if you don’t quite dig a little botanical heat in your food. The chef does a great job of drawing the flavor of the chilis into the food without bringing in over-whelming heat.

For those who do like to step over the line, or at least enjoy tap-dancing on it, your waiter can provide to you a puree of smoked habanero. This stuff is the epitome of potent. Just take a whiff and you’ll smell what I mean. Imagine chipotle with the fruity taste of the habanero and about a hundred times more heat. Be careful with this, once you try it you may find yourself adding it to everything. Keep it away from the deserts though - really.

There are some really incredible items on the menu such as the shrimp and chorizo ranchero over smoky cheese grits. With a mellow poblano flavor that is balanced with the sharp chorizo, this dish was the flat-out favorite at our table as it was passed around several times leaving me with very little of my meal for myself. It hurts sometimes to know how to order.

For something lighter, the blue cornmeal dusted tilapia with tomatillo salsa is delicate but still brings enough southwest with every bite that you couldn’t mistake yourself for being in a generic grill if you closed your eyes. Tomatillo is on of those sauces that is really underused around town outside your better Mexican establishments. With this dish, maybe Asada can inspire kitchens around town.

There are just a couple items that miss the mark flavor-wise. The pork carnitas tamale is one of those. The meat is simply too mildly spiced to compete with the rest of the menu. The same can be said for the smoked poblano goat cheese macaroni and cheese. Such a promising sounding dish does taste excellent…the next day, after the previous night’s flavors are a distant memory. It just cannot compete with the rock and roll of the rest of the menu.

If you are a dessert person, you will not be disappointed here. There is a fresh selection of items that vary from the indulgent to the sublime. Unfortunately, the coffee choices are not quite up to snuff.

Asada is one of those places that you come to with friends and regret when you have to leave for the evening. You’ll look up and realize that time has flown by and you need to turn the page. But you’ll want to return to this place again and again to relive the story.

Zapata, Atlanta, GA. 09/15/2005
In the theme of Mexican resturants, comes this excellent destination to Norcross. I’ve been here many times and had a wide variety off the menu. While the consistency isn’t always there, it seems as though the flavor god struck brilliance in some items while turning a blind eye to others, a lot of items are so good you’ll come back to wallow in just those.

Two such items are the mocaljete and their habanero salsa. The mocaljete is a tomatillo and cactus sauce with tingly citrus flavors placed in a lava rock bowl, heated to sizzling and you get your choice of shrimp, steak or chicken. Though they’re all good, the shrimp performs a dance on your palette the likes of which you’ve probably never experienced before. The sauce is so divine that you’ll be looking for new items to be putting it on to empart it’s joy.

The habanero salsa is really more of a relish and comes as a garnish to a steak dish that escapes me at the moment. No matter, simply ask your server for the habanero salsa and they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about. Much like the sauce in the mocaljete, this spicy relish has such an intense and amazing flavor that it improves most anything it graces (ice cream may be a stretch). It’s mostly onion and habaneros with an educated guess leaning towards a lot of garlic. If bold, in your face heat and flavor are up your alley, this is a can’t miss destination for this salsa alone.

Dona Maria, Las Vegas, NV. 09/15/2005
This Mexican restaurant can be found way north on the strip just about to downtown (at the intersection of Charleston if I remember right). Bar none, this is the best Mexican food I’ve ever had. Most of the patron were hispanic, which is always a good sign. This is not you’re $4.99, bake a plate, we serve bochalism with beans and rice, cheap joint that most Americans think of for “good” Mexican food (El Azteca anyone?). This place, while not expensive, serves outstanding classic meals with an appetizers and soup list that’ll make you wonder if you should go for the over-stuff and get an entree as well.

I started my meal off with a spicy green chicken tamale which was one of the best I’ve had. Moved on to the queso fundido - simple and classic mexican white cheese with chorizo on top served with your choice of flour or corn tortillas. Everytime you are served tortillas, you will be asked if you want flour or corn. Get the corn. I’m sure the flour are good, but the corn are homemade fresh that you just don’t seem to be able to find very often.

I moved on the the albondigas soup, which is an amazing pork and chick pea work of art that you only stop eatting because your spoon just hit the bottom of the bowl. Before my entree arrived, I knew I was in trouble. Then it arrived. The massive plate that held my carne asada was placed in front of me and I had to sit there and just breathe it in for a while.

I had asked for jalapenos to be chopped and grilled with the steak and it was just so. Served with corn tortillas and the ole stand by of refried beans and rice. As I set to work on the plate of food, by stomach was ready to raise the white flag but I knew it would be a while till I was able to come back. So I stuffed, re-stuffed and over-stuffed myself until stuffing was a word that brought on tears. And I still only made it through half the plate.

When we finally rolled out of there, the whole lot of us agreed that this was a place that we would return to each and every time we set foot in Las Vegas. It is our new Mecca for Mexican food. If you stop by, be sure to remove your shoes at the door. Don’t tread the sin of the Arby’s you ate the night before into this place.

Wynn Buffet, Las Vegas, NV. 09/15/2005
This past Vegas trip, we had pretty good luck with food. Not everything was great, but The Buffet fits into the win column. Despite it’s unimaginitive name, the food there was as good as any buffet I’ve had on the Vegas strip. All the cornerstones are there: carving station, pastas, mexican, middle-eastern, desserts, the works. There’s also an outstanding seafood station with Alaskan king crab legs already split for you. One of the best things there was the risotto station that had several combinations you could get as ingredients. I chose the seafood with shrimp and crab which was outstanding. The asians walking by didn’t have a clue what risotto was. They would stop, look and wonder. I’m sure they thought the poor hapless cook behind the counter was ruining perfectly good rice!